


A Little Lacking

by kittypox



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Size Difference, hints of NSFW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 18:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10836789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittypox/pseuds/kittypox
Summary: Keith is just small, Shiro thinks. Really, really small. There’s nothing abnormal about it. Or is there?





	A Little Lacking

**Author's Note:**

> Friendo told me I should post my ficlets on AO3 so I decided why not! This one is one of my favorites, so I thought I'd share! 
> 
> Originally posted on tumblr.

Keith was _tiny_. At first Shiro had thought that it was just a matter of perspective. Over the past year, his own body had grown, muscles shaping, doubling or tripling in size. Had it been under any other circumstances, he might have been pleased with his new size and strength. There was something thrilling in holding his lover against him and feeling the way the smaller body shuddered in his dwarfing embrace. Keith had always been slight, a bit shorter than he, but he was made of sturdy stuff. He had always been surprised at how heavy the younger man was when he picked him up; there was more muscle there than let on.

Now though, picking Keith up was an easy feat. It barely felt like he were lifting a weight when he plucked Keith up under the arms and swung him into the air. The first time he had done so, when he had slipped out of the desert shack to catch his breath and Keith had trailed after, he had chalked it up to his own size. After observing his lover more carefully, he was less certain.

Standing side by side with the other team members, Keith was shorter, only beating Pidge out by a foot. That wasn't so unusual, Shiro supposed, but if he had grown taller over the course of a year, he would have expected Keith to as well. The thread of thinking prompted him to examine the young man further and he noted several things immediately. Of first note was that Keith had virtually no muscle mass on him. None of the other paladins did, really, but he _knew_ from personal experience that Keith once had trim, pronounced muscles. That could be explained away if Keith had grown lazy, though Shiro highly doubted that. 

Next, he saw how baggy Keith's clothes truly were, as if he were wearing an older sibling's hand-me-downs that he hadn't yet grown into. The sleeves and hem billowed around him like a tent. At times, he even caught the collar slipping dangerously low on the young man's shoulder. Of slight concern was the fact that Keith's pants were held on his hips by a tightly looped belt. 

"Are you alright?" He cornered Keith in the hall one evening, placing his hand on the small of the young man's back and pressing gently. The ridges of Keith's spine dug into his palm.

Keith raised an eyebrow a him. "Yes? Why?"

He withdrew his hand. "Oh, nothing. You just looked worried, that's all."

"Well, aren't you? We just got dragged into a galactic war. We have confirmed the existence of aliens. Our home planet is a million light years away and we may never get back."

"Fair enough. Where are you heading?"

"Kitchen."

That, Shiro discovered, was Keith's new favorite place. No matter what the others claimed, the food goo tasted like the nectar of the gods to Keith and he made a beeline for the kitchen after every training session. With plate stacked high, he flashed a smile at Shiro and made his way to his room. 

"Geez, Keith." Shiro chuckled. "Where do you put it all?"

A third of the plate was demolished before Keith had even reached his room. They bantered back and forth, like they had in the old days, and when they reached Keith's room, he was invited inside. Shiro had been sorely lacking companionship as of late and eagerly agreed, taking a seat on the floor as Keith made himself comfortable in bed. 

\-------

The first time they kissed, three weeks later, he pulled Keith to him by the arms and almost choked on his own tongue. After a very awkward but pleasant kiss, as Keith nestled close to his chest, his eyes slid to where his hand rested on the young man's arm. He had to be hallucinating, Shiro told himself. But, no, with startlingly little effort, he could circle Keith's arm with his hand and touch thumb to middle finger. 

_Your hands are just large_ , reason told him. He was far and away the largest of the paladins and even as a student he had towered over his classmates. It was a curse really, being a boy in a man's body, but he had never noticed it so profoundly as he did then. Did that make Keith petite then? He pulled back, examining him. Keith stared up at him, a small smile on his lips, blissfully unaware that he was being sized up.

As far as Shiro could tell, there was nothing overtly dainty about him. He was shorter than expected, but not so short as to be considered lacking for one his age. Lanky, lacking definition, but he appeared to be of normal size and stature. Just really, _really_ thin. 

With some of his worries allayed, he felt more comfortable pulling Keith towards him and pressing close. So long as he was mindful of his behemoth stature, they would be fine. Keith was not glass.

\---------------------

And then it happened. Keith wanted to go all the way. He had waited over a year for Shiro to return; there was no time like the present. Truth told, Shiro was just as eager to pick up where they had left off, and so he had not protested the idea. 

It was not so easy sneaking around when they were all literally doors down from one another, but they learned to get creative. He would weave one way, drumming up an excuse to leave the common room early, and Keith would dart the other, claiming exhaustion. They met in the hallways, lips and teeth colliding messily before hastily slipping into one of their rooms before they could be spotted. 

Keith all but jumped into his arms, pulling at his bottom lip with his teeth and tugging at his vest. So small and anxious. He pinned the smaller man to his bed and shed his clothing between breaths stolen. Keith writhed eagerly, ripping his hands away the second he could and stripping himself. 

All Shiro could do was stare. He was not entirely turned off, but he was stunned. His shock was stark on his face and, upon seeing his expression, Keith sat back.

"Is something wrong?" He asked worriedly, reaching to put his shirt back on. 

Shiro's mouth moved for a moment before he found words. "You're so...small."

That was a generous word. Skeletal seemed a far more accurate description. Anorexic? Deteriorated? He could see the lines of Keith's ribs through his skin, so prominent he worried they might easily snap and break through frail flesh. What muscles Keith had were tight and startling visible, but there was not much to them. The young man's hip bones jutted out and Shiro had the strange thought that when Keith fell on his side he must bruise horribly. 

He was staring. 

"S-sorry, it's just---are you sick, Keith?"

Keith looked confused. "Sick? What do you mean?"

"Well--you--" He gestured to the young man's body. "You're---scrawny." Another kind word for it.

Keith looked himself over, face pinched as if the notion that he might be too thin had never crossed his mind. "Am I? But--I've gained 15 pounds since we started living in the castle."

That was impossible. If Keith had already gained 15 pounds, he couldn't imagine what he had looked like underneath his clothes without those added pounds. 

"Keith, what happened in that year that you were out of the garrison?" He hadn't had the presence of mind to retain much of what he had heard when they were crowded together in the shack. He recalled the facts of Keith being kicked from the garrison and moving out to the dessert because he sensed something there, but beyond that he either hadn't retained the information or Keith hadn't shared. 

A guarded look came to Keith's eyes. He pulled his clothes back on hastily and shoved himself against the wall defensively. Shiro followed his lead and pulled his pants back on. 

"Nothing happened." Keith began, eyes downcast. "I survived."

"Yes, I see that. The real question I suppose is _how_ you survived. I mean--did the garrison give you a severance package? Did the orphanage help you out?"

Keith shook his head. "The garrison didn't give me shit and as soon as I turned 18 the orphanage had nothing to do with me." He seemed sour about that.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Shiro honestly was. The orphanage hadn't sounded like a paradise, the way Keith had described it, but it had offered him a bed and meals when he needed it. "How did you get money for food?"

"I--didn't." There was a pause. They stared at one another steadily until Keith gave in. "I hunted what I could from the desert. Lizards. Jackrabbits. Bugs. There isn't much out there. There was water from a well, but--when I got too hungry I would walk into town and find a soup kitchen or homeless shelter that offered food."

All at once everything made sense. "Oh--Keith."

He drew him into his arms and held on as tightly as he dared. Keith leaned into the warmth of his embrace and, when he ran his hands up the young man's arms, he felt the ridges of his shoulders. 

It became his mission from then on to ensure that Keith ate twice as much as them all. If Keith's plate was not twice as full as his, he was sure to have Coran place another plate in front of him before he could leave the table. It was never an issue; Keith inhaled it all. When Hunk began working his magic in the kitchen and the food actually began tasting good, they all gained a few more pounds. 

Shiro would not go so far as to say he became a nagging parent type, monitoring Keith's food intake and his weight--but he did. And he was very pleased with the results. He pushed Keith against the wall after training one evening and grabbed his thigh, earning a heated gasp. Keith pushed against him eagerly, relishing the rough touches. Shiro dug his fingers into thick, full muscle and growled, pleased. 

"Are you finally going to do it?" Keith panted, arms around his neck.

"Yes." That was all that needed to be said. Maybe, if Keith asked some day, he would explain the long wait, but was there really a kind way to say 'I put off loving you because I was afraid I would literally snap you in half'?

He had no worry then, tumbling into bed with Keith and gripping him tightly. When Keith was laid out beneath him he ran a hand over his body appreciatively, admiring the layers of muscle and full flesh. Not a trace of bone there. If anything, he wished Keith had more fat on him, not just lean muscle. 

"Yes?" Keith drawled, eyes half lidded and welcoming.

"It's nothing." Shiro said softly, leaning down to kiss full lips. 

Later, when the lights had long since dimmed and Keith was breathing softly beside him, he ran his hand down the young man's spine. Barely perceptible beneath his palm was the line of Keith's spine, buried beneath tissue and muscle. He sighed, content, and pulled Keith closer, leaning heavily on his solid body.


End file.
